Methods and Systems for Customer Validation Using Any of a Plurality of Identification Documents and Identification Document Readers

1. A method for remote authorization of fuel dispensing comprising: receiving a fuel dispensing authorization request, including identifying indicia, from a fuel dispensing station, the identifying indicia being extracted from an identification document of a customer by an identification document reader of the fuel dispensing station; querying a database of customer records for authorization of the customer; receiving an indication of customer authorization from the database; and transmitting the indication to the fuel dispensing station wherein the identification document reader comprises an optical character recognition device, an electronic chip reader, a magnetic strip reader, a PDF417 reader, or a photoscan reader.

2. A method for authorizing a fuel dispenser comprising: receiving a fuel dispensing authorization request, including identifying indicia, from a fuel dispensing station, the identifying indicia being extracted from an identification document of a customer wherein the identifying indicia is used to authorize the fuel dispenser and the identification document is one or more of a drivers license, a passport, a green card, a state issue identification card, or a federal issue identification card.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identification document is a drivers license.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the identifying indicia is extracted from the identification document by means of a identification document reader and the identification document reader is one or more of a bar code reader, a magnetic strip reader, an optical character recognition device, an electronic chip reader, a PDF417 reader, or a photoscan reader.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the identification document reader is a PDF417 reader.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the identification document reader is a photoscan reader.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the identification document reader is a magnetic strip reader.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the identification document reader is a barcode reader.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the identification document reader is an optical character recognition device.

10. The method of claim 2 , further comprising a secondary means of authorizing the fuel dispenser.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the secondary means of authorizing the fuel dispenser includes one or more of input of a PIN, identification by an RFID, or identification by biometric data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the biometric data is a retinal scan or a fingerprint.